Forvia-owned Hella has released sales results for the first nine months of the year which show currency-adjusted sales increased slightly by 0.8 percent to €6.0 billion.
“The third quarter in particular was challenging, as expected. Global light vehicle production was already at a low level in the first half of the year, and especially in the last three months production volumes have decreased significantly worldwide. In addition, in the third quarter negative effects from our customer mix, postponements in series launches and the slower ramp-up of electromobility were even more noticeable than before,” said Bernard Schäferbarthold, CEO of Forvia Hella.
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“Despite these challenging framework conditions, we maintained our sales at the previous year’s level overall. Also in view of the changed global manufacturer landscape, we will consistently drive forward our strategy of diversifying the customer portfolio and further balancing our business across the regions.”
The company noted that global vehicle production fell by 1.6 percent in the first nine months period, having largely stagnated in the first half of the fiscal year.
Sales development in the first nine months was supported by growth in the business group Lighting. Sales improved, compared to the previous year, by 4.1 percent to €3.0 billion (previous year: €2.9 billion). However, Hella said this is largely due to the full consolidation of the Chinese joint venture Beijing Hella BHAP Automotive Lighting, which has been in effect since the beginning of this fiscal year. In addition, new series launches and higher customer call-offs for individual series projects supported the business group’s development.
In the Electronics business group, sales fell by 3.9 percent to €2.4 billion (previous year: €2.5 billion). Although the radar business in particular developed positively, among other things due to new series launches in the Americas, customer-related postponements in new project launches, negative effects from the customer and product mix, particularly in China, and the temporary slowdown in electrification in Europe had a negative impact on business development in Electronics.
